To Work with Nature, We Need to Understand How Nature Works

Three Principles of Natural Ecosystems:
1.  Every Organism has its Niche
2. Biodiversity
3.  Succession

Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway discussed three principles of natural ecosystems that I am trying to imitate in our gardens in order to create a more natural, self-sustaining ecosystem:

1.  Every Organism has Its Niche

• Natural habitat is widely varied and full of different niches that can be used by different organisms.  The varied niches are interdependent and together make a balanced ecosystem.  
  
• If you provide habitat that creates a niche for species that are lower on the food chain (such as worms & insects), then species higher on the food chain can take up residence as well (such as the birds that eat the worms & insects).  
  
• The maple tree to the right has many niches:  a rock pile at its base for insect shelter, maple seeds for animals to eat; tree limbs for birds to nest and perch on; part of it is rotting, allowing woodpeckers to make nest cavities and search for insects; the leaves fall to the ground each Fall creating a mulch that fertilizes the soil and provides overwintering shelter for insects.

• The Habitat Stack to the left is an assembly of human-made niches that we built with pallets, bricks, and logs, to provide more wildlife habitat in our yard (and it looks cool!). It includes tunnels on the bottom layer that are used by chipmunks and many different types of crevices in the uppers layers that help beneficial insects over winter. The top is a good napping platform for cats.

2. Nature has Biodiversity

Natural habitat is more diverse than human-made monocultures:

Lawns are Monocultures
(only one type of plant)

Monoculture = one type of plant

• Monocultures are areas that have only one type of plant. This includes lawns and those endless fields of corn and soybeans that we see in industrial agriculture.
  
• Monocultures are a problem because they are like big dinner plates for invading plant pests or diseases- there’s lots of food for them to eat in one easy-to-reach location, so we need to use dangerous chemicals to counter act them.

vs. Nature's Biodiversity
(lots of different types of plants)

Biodiversity = lots of different plant types

• Above is a shot of the raspberry patch in our yard that I let grow wild. It is biodiverse because it includes lots of different plants. In addition to wild raspberry canes, it has some perennial vegetables (rhubarb, asparagus, and walking onion) and daffodils planted by a former owner, and many kinds of weeds.
  
• A diversity of plants creates a diversity of niches that will support a diversity of wildlife and a diversity of uses, including providing us with wonderful berries to eat.

3.  An Ecosystem Grows in Natural Succession

Natural habitat grows in a succession, or progression, of certain plants.  

1. Pioneer Plants/Annual Weeds:

• When Nature finds bare earth, She first sends “weed” plants that can quickly cover the area and protect the soil from pounding rain and winds that can cause loss of nutrients through erosion.  
  
• These plants, such as dandelions, crab grass, or plantain, are called pioneer plants. 
• Pioneer plants shelter the bare soil from loss of nutrients.  
  
• Pioneer plants are tough and fast growing.
  
• This means that whenever we till our gardens and plant seeds on bare soil, Nature will try to protect the soil by growing weeds there.

2. Perennial Plants:

• In a natural succession, the mostly annual pioneer plants are replaced by larger perennials, such as asters or goldenrod, within a few seasons.  
  
• These bushier perennials provide more niches so that more organisms can move in. 

3. Bushes, then Trees and Forest:

• Succession continues over the years filling the field with shrubs, then small trees, until it eventually becomes a mature forest full of many niches & lots of biodiversity.
• In Permaculture theory, forests are seen as the end product of most natural ecosystems, so we try to create forests that will also feed us.

This is the field behind our house. The person who owns it used to mow it once a year, keeping it in the early phases of succession (above). It hasn't been mowed for a couple years now, and it is starting to be taken over by shrubs and small trees. It may not be a field for too many more years.

How This Helps Nature Survive:

• With each step in the succession, the biomass, the amount of living matter in the ecosystem, increases.  
  

• Mature ecosystems have enough biomass so that parts of the system become interdependent and redundant.  Nature survives because there is redundancy in the system.
  
• Each part has multiple functions so that if one part of the system fails, there are other parts that can take over.
  
• For example, if one good bug fails in its job of controlling the bad bugs that are destroying plants, there are other predators in a mature ecosystem that will pick up the slack and keep a balance.

Forest at Blue Mounds State Park

Does a typical yard or garden work like Nature? 
Continue to see how these ecosystem principles apply to
the Problem with Lawns.